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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

It’s Queen’s Thief Week – Squee!

I’ve mentioned before
what a fan I am of Megan Whalen Turner’s series, but now I get to devote a
whole post to her! Chachic’s Book Nook is doing a tribute week to all things
Queen’s Thief and I would be incredibly ungrateful if I didn’t add my humble
bit of praise, too.

It is by far my favorite MG/YA series, due in large part to
the main character, Eugenides. Fallible, petulant, supremely tricksy, a
coward, a hero, and an archtype of mercy - if
you haven’t yet been introduced to the Thief, Eugenides, then any description I
can give will never suffice. He is one of the most complex and surprising characters
in literature today.

The series is set in a world similar to ancient Greece where
three small rival nations, Eddis, Attolia, and Sounis face not only threats
from each other, but also the encroachment of the powerful Mede Empire, intent
on gaining a foothold on their little peninsula.

Beyond the basic background, though, I hesitate to tell you
too much. Much of the brilliance of the series comes from the moments when you
realize that the story you have been blithely reading and making assumptions
about is not, in fact, the story that is being told. These revelations hit like
lightning bolts of clarity, but on a second read, every clue was there all
along.

Here's my pitch: Read The Series! (From the beginning. And
stay away from spoilerish reviews before you read.)

Now, from an aspiring author’s perspective, let me tell you
a few things I find amazing about Megan Whalen Turner’s work.

Characters: As I mentioned here in one of my earlier posts,
Megan Whalen Turner (mwt to her fans) does a remarkable job with
characterization. Every character, not just ‘the important ones,’ has motive, backstory
and depth. It’s the relationships between the characters, though, that draws me
to this series. No one, and no relationship, is black and white. The people
have loyalties to friends, family, country and self, and these intermix to form
a vibrant reality within the books.

World Building: For a MG/YA series, the world of the Queen’s
Thief books is highly complex. Not the geography, or even the way the people
live. Those would be familiar to anyone with a basic understanding of Greek or
Roman culture. But the simplicity of the backdrop allows for more time to be spent
on very twisty political machinations and very real human interactions (including one of the most complicated and satifying romances I have ever read).

Revelatory writing: I’ll admit it, I was really thinking of the
Queen’s Thief series here when I listed ways to prejudice the readers
opinion of events and characters. I have read and reread mwt’s books to try to
see how, even though I know these
characters, she is still able to make me jump to wrong conclusions and make false
assumptions about their actions.

Five Years: That’s the average time between mwt’s books. I’m
so glad I discovered them after the first three were out. Now there are four
books and it’s been out almost two years, so only three more years to go till the next book! (Yes, that truly is the mindset of Queen’s Thief fans.) Mwt has an extremely loyal (and patient) fan base, many of whom congregate at Sounis. They do fanart, fanfic, and interpretive dance. They knit and
wear liberated (mismatched) socks. This is possibly one of my favorite posts
where the illustrator of the beautiful covers shares the collaborative process
of creating them.

So, there’s my ode. Please take the time to look into this
series. The first book, The Thief, is the most MG in theme and writing, but
even if you don’t think it’s your usual faire, plug away till you get to book
two which is deep and sophisticated, and oh, so satisfying a read. It only gets better from there.

Guilty hand raise - loved book one, HATED book 2. Maybe because I couldn't get over the beginning scene, and because I felt a certain character spent too much time being morose?

Though based on reviews I've heard of the third and fourth books, I'm wondering if I overreacted. Should I give the series a second chance? (I can guess your answer, but I'd love any further thought. You can email me if you want to avoid spoilers for the group).

I hope this isn't spoilerish, but you might consider that book 2 is a painful, but subtle and realistic character arc of someone growing up (a vital step in the rest of the series).

Mwt made a comment once about characters only being able to outwit everything and play pranks for so long and still keep a readers attention - no, the real story moves forward when things change drastically and the character must change(grow)drastically, too. I have come to appreciate that brutal advice more and more as I write my own stuff.

Anyway, my 2 cents on the second book. Give the third book a try, I found it truly amazing.